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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ground · bat · net · track · nail · hand · board · capital

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. capital — money
  4. board — to get on
  5. track — a path
  6. ground — a position
  7. net — in sport
  8. ground — crushed
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. board — a committee
  11. hand — help
  12. ground — the earth
  13. bat — the animal
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. track — a song
  16. hand — in cards
  17. net — after costs
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. capital — a city
  23. net — for catching
  24. track — to keep track

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com